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2 Help Ele Leave the Circus Maze Page 1 Elephants don t want to be afraid and lonely in the circus. They desperately want to live with their friends and family in their natural habitat. Help Ele leave the circus behind and rejoin her family! Circus Chains : Color in the Elephant Page 2 Elephants in the circus are forced to spend most of their time in chains. Choose colors to represent the sad elephant. Life in the Circus Word Find Page 3 In the wild, social animals like elephants live with their families and spend most of their time together. They always watch out for each other. In the circus, they never get to decide what to do or where to go. Connect the Dots: Horsin Around Page 4 Find out who is trying to hide from a cruel circus trainer by connecting the dots. Quick Quiz: How Much Do You Know About Animals in the Circus? Do tigers jump through hoops in the forest? Page 5 Are You as Smart as an Elephant? Page 6 Elephants are some of the most intelligent animals in the world! Test your math skills with our color-by-numbers activity. An Elephant s Life Comic Page 7 Follow along as Daisy is captured, put into the circus, and then rescued! Learn how you can help other elephants have a happy ending. Circuses Hurt Animals Crossword Puzzle Page 21 Animals in the circus don t get to think about anything but how scared and lonely they are. Put your thinking cap on, and use the information in this booklet to figure out the answers to this crossword puzzle. Animal-Friendly Reading List Page 22 Learn more about tigers, elephants, and other animals by reading these fun and informative books.

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4 2 Color in the elephant with sad colors.

5 In the wild, tiger cubs stay with their mothers for three years. In the circus, they are taken away from their mothers when they are still babies. Tigers are meant to roam for miles every day. In the circus, they live in cramped cages. Zebras are shy animals who avoid people, but in the circus, they have to perform in front of loud and scary crowds. Camels like to walk around and explore, but circuses like Ringling keep them in small pens and trucks. Horses live in family herds and like to graze and run in fields. Circus life means spending most of their time in boxcars or trailers and arena basements. 3

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7 H ow Much Do You Know? 1. One thing that a tiger likes to do is: a. jump through a flaming hoop. b. cool off in a mountain stream. c. dance on his or her hind legs. 2. Lions have very strong legs so that they: a. can run quickly over long distances when hunting for food. b. can jump high enough to get through a circus hoop. c. won t get tired while walking from their enclosure to the big top. 3. One of a zebra s favorite activities is to: a. run around in a circle while being threatened by a guy holding a whip. b. sleep standing up. c. be hauled from town to town in a trailer. 4. An elephant s trunk is important because it: a. helps him or her balance on a ball. b. gives the person riding the elephant something to hang on to. c. can reach up into trees to collect leaves and fruit to eat. 5

8 Test your math skills and color by number. Color each section based on the percentage and decimal that the fraction equals. 50% or 0.5 = Gray 25% or 0.25 = Brown 100% or 1.0 = Green 6

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10 elephants are the largest land animals on earth. they have the largest brains of any land mammal. elephants talk to each other. researchers have discovered 70 different types of calls that elephants use to communicate with each other. elephants trunks are strong enough to pick up trees but sensitive enough to pick a flower. elephants use sticks as tools to sweep paths, to scratch themselves, to swat flies, and to draw in the dirt. elephants are good swimmers and use their trunks like snorkels. elephants use plants and minerals to keep themselves healthy. some use their tusks to mine minerals in caves to supplement their diets. elephants live together in family groups. they help each other when they re in trouble. they join together to care for and rescue their young. 8

11 what a great circus! that s my aunt on the trapeze! wow! look at the strong man! but where are all the animals!? this circus doesn t use animals, leo. but i like animals! if you really liked animals, you wouldn t want to see them kept in cages and unhappy. the circus is over... let s go see my aunt! hi, aunt athena! these are my friends, tricia and leo! hi, ann! i m glad you came to the circus! you were flying on that trapeze! how did you like the circus? it was great... but i really wanted to see an elephant! 9

12 i like elephants, too! but they don t belong in circuses! where are we going? to see an old friend! do you kids want to go see something really exciting!? YEAH! why are you so interested in elephants, leo? all wild elephants live in africa and asia! elephants are awesome! they re the biggest land animals on earth! elephants live in famly groups called herds. a herd usually has several female elephants, their young adult daughters, and their babies. the oldest and OFTEN largest female elephant is the leader of the family. adult male elephants live apart from the herd most of the time. 10

13 the baby elephants are cared for by their mothers. aunts, cousins, and sisters also help take care of the babies. baby elephants spend much of their time walking, playing, and drinking their mother s milk. elephants care for sick or injured family members. when elephants die, their families moan, cry, and bury them under branches, grass, and earth. did you know that elephants can talk to each other? elephants talk with trumpets, squeaks, and rumbles. mothers quietly hum and sing to their babies to keep them happy. elephants can talk over long distances with rumblings the human ear can t even hear! 11

14 let s take a breaki brought a snack! alexander, how do you know so much about elephants? we used to work in a circus that used elephants. it made me want to learn more about them. we even became friends with one elephant. her name was daisy. here s her picture! we learned that daisy was intelligent and sensitive. we started visiting her between performances. then, one day... come on, you dumb beast! get going! stop that! what are you doing!? we got a show to put on! i gotta make her move! take it easy! that bullhook hurts her! i ll be watching you! 12

15 we decided to learn more about daisy and how she got to the circus. tell us, aunt athena! i always wondered where circus elephants came from. daisy s story is the same as those of MANY captive elephants! she started life with her happy family in the wild. she played with her brothers and sisters as she explored her world. but her peaceful life would soon be changed forever... men invaded the elephants home. they were paid to capture baby elephants to sell to circuses. 13

16 daisy would never see her family again. what happened to her? baby elephants are chained and sometimes beaten every day to break their spirits... daisy s legs were chained so she couldn t move. sometimes elephants are chained tightly around their necks so they can t even move their heads. often they are chained for long periods to make them obey. elephants are trained or punished with sharp pointed hooks or whips. these giant creatures have sensitive skin and feel great pain from this treatment. an elephant s life in the circus is very different from life in the wild. 14

17 elephants walk up to 30 miles a day and may have up to 140 square miles of territory. Elephants are chained in place and kept in small enclosures. elephants use leaves and mud to keep their bodies cool and prevent sunburn. elephants are often chained in the sun or on hot train cars for long periods of time. elephants eat a variety of fresh grasses, leaves, fruit, bark, and water plants. elephants are usually only fed dried hay and grains. female elephants stay with their families all their lives. male elephants stay with their families for 10 to 15 years. elephants are separated from their families when they re very young. elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. with such unnatural treatment, captive elephants usually live only about half that long. 15

18 all elephants in circuses have a hard life in captivity... and daisy was no different. we realized that the circus used animals only to make money. they didn t care if the animals were happy. we heard about a new circus that didn t use animals. we decided to join it and stop helping the circus that hurt animals. i thought a circus needed animals! after what i just heard, i m glad you don t use animals in your circus. yeah! besides, i m amazed what people can do! you guys were awesome! are you guys ready to hike? sure, let s go! where are we going? to see our old friend! 16

19 are there other circuses that don t use animals? yes, and more circuses are learning they don t need animals to entertain people. in fact, some towns have banned circuses with captive animals because they are dangerous to people. sometimes elephants crack under stress, try to run away... and are shot! whatever happened to daisy? our old circus was fined for mistreating its animals. they decided to sell daisy. everybody who knew and liked daisy gave money to help us rescue her. we also got funds from an association that helps captive elephants. the day finally came when daisy was to be rescued. she seemed to sense something was different as alexander approached her. 17

20 it felt great to break daisy s chains. we can all help break the chains of other elephants in circuses, too! how can we help!? 18

21 Don t go to circuses that use captive animals! If people stopped paying to see elephants, circuses would stop using them. speak up for elephants!! tell your family and friends why animal-free circuses are better! ask your parents to tell local officials they don t want circuses with captive animals! find out how you can help protect animals. contact organizations that care for and help protect animals. if everybody helps, we can break the chains of captive animals in circuses. so, whatever became of daisy? remember that old friend i told you we were going to see? 19

22 there she is! hello, daisy! wow! Daisy is lucky! she lives in an elephant sanctuary, where she can roam free. most captive elephants never get their freedom! it s best to let wild elephants stay wild! We need to let circuses know that we don t want animals held captive for our entertainment! good-bye, daisy! 20

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